Windhoek
Members of parliament were put through their paces during a workshop on development budget, held at Swakopmund last week.
The workshop aimed to enhance the MPs’ understanding of the national development budget and to enrich the oversight function of standing committees.
Officiating at the workshop, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Professor Peter Katjavivi informed parliamentarians that the development budget is a formal expression where the government reflects its programme priorities, its goals and service levels for the upcoming fiscal year.
“Through this budget, the government development policy is set, programmes are established, service levels are expressed, performance measures are articulated and resources are identified,” stated Katjavivi.
“It also presents the details of the government`s capital expenditure programmes and projects and it reflects the will of the government to achieve and pursues the development agenda of the country, as given in its development guidelines,” further stated the Speaker.
During the workshop, MPs analysed about 346 development projects contained in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) 2013/2014 to 2015/2016 and formulated questions to permanent secretaries of various ministries to solicit feedback on the status and feasibility of the various projects.
They also sought clarity and detail of project descriptions, the feasibility of concluding dates, the amount budgeted during the current MTEF, the synchronisation of project descriptions with amounts budgeted during the current MTEF, balances remaining after the current MTEF, general accounting problems and the impact of the projects on the outcome of the current MTEF and NDP 4. Among the various government ministries, offices and agencies discussed during the workshop were the Ministry of Industrialisation, Trade and SME Development; the Ministry of Safety and Security; the Ministry Agriculture, Water and Forestry; the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources; the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration; the Ministry of Mines and Energy; the Ministry of Veterans Affairs; the Ministry of Environment and Tourism; the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation; the National Planning Commission; the Office of the President; the Office of the Prime Minister; and the National Assembly.
The workshop was organised by the National Assembly in collaboration with the Parliamentary Support Programme (PSP) funded by the European Union (EU).
PSP Programme Coordinator Johan de Waal facilitated the workshop.
Workshop delegates were drawn from the following standing committees of the National Assembly: Economics and Public Administration; Public Accounts; Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security and Information and Communication Technology.